Obsessive stalker who drove ex-girlfriend to end her life given 10 years for manslaughter
AN OBSESSIVE stalker who drove his ex-partner to take her own life by bombarding her with abusive voicemails, texts and Facebook messages has been jailed for 10 years after admitting manslaughter.
In what is believed to be a legal first, prosecutors brought a charge of unlawful killing against Nicholas Allen, 47, after an inquiry into the suicide of Justene Reece.
Stafford Crown Court was told the 46-year-old victim was found hanged at her home in February after leaving a note saying she had “run out of fight” following six months of threats from Allen.
Allen pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to charges of manslaughter, coercive behaviour and stalking, accepting that his abuse led to Ms Reece’s death.
The court heard that Ms Reece set up home with Allen in Stokeon-Trent and Stafford after meeting him in 2015, but within months he became increasingly obsessive and controlling. In 2016 Ms Reece left Allen to live at a women’s shelter, prompting him to begin stalking five people close to her in a bid to track her down.
After learning of his ex-partner’s suicide at a property in Stafford, Allen conducted an internet search to establish whether he could be held legally responsible for the death.
Imposing a 15-year extended sentence which includes an extra five-year period on licence, the Recorder of Stafford, Judge Michael Chambers QC, said Allen’s “disturbing” conduct had been truly appalling. The judge told Allen: “You clearly caused her to lose her life and before that to experience, over a protracted period of time, what must have been a living nightmare.”
The court heard that Allen, of no fixed address, made around 3,500 attempts to contact Ms Reece after they split in October last year.